Palomar Card Club
Located on a busy major street, Palomar Card Club is a freestanding building just west of the 805 freeway in the northeast part of town. Games Limit hold 'em: 3/6 with a full kill. No-limit hold 'em: 2/3 blinds 30-300 buyin, 5/10 blinds 200-1500 buyin. 10/20 blinds 1000-unlimited buyin. Palomar is built around no-limit games and seems to offer its only limit game as a grudging nod to more timid beginners. Players interested in Limit are generally encouraged to visit the other card room in town, the Lucky Lady Card Room, which focuses much more on limit games. Palomar is all about the no-limit, baby. Even the big glass storefront windows proclaim "NO LIMIT" in big letters. In multiple places. Accordingly, the no-limit games attract regulars who have lots of practice under their belt, and hence are playing more tricky than you might at first think a smalltown local cardroom would be. Wait Time: A small number of tables, but the wait time is generally short, if you're flexible about the stakes you wish to play. With only 6 tables, though, if you want a seat at a particular level, the wait can be anywhere from 0-60 minutes. They try to maintain a must move table at the low limits, but the must-move generally bumps players up a level, so players often decline to move. Rake: $4 per pot + $1 Bad Beat. No flop, no drop. Posting: New players need not post to enter a game. Shuffling: All tables have Shufflemaster shuffling machines. Tournaments As of October 06, they have started spreading a $120 tournament on Sundays at noon. Unlimited rebuys in the first hour with an addon at the end of the rebuy period. Jackpots and Promotions * Jackpots: ** AAAKK or better beat by quads or better = $4000 (Share of $10,000) ** AAAQQ beat by quads or better = $2000 (Share of $5,000) ** AAAJJ beat by quads or better = $1600 (Share of $4,000) * Promotions: ** Come in when they open at 9am, play NLHE, and receive $20 in chips after the first half hour of play. ** Come in when they open at 9am, play 3/6 or 2/3 NLH for at least two hours, get $70 for a purchase of $50 in chips at 11am. Atmosphere A smalltown but pleasant cardroom on a busy commercial street in a "suburban feel" part of San Diego. Nice surroundings, open and spacious room, brightly lit (by the sun streaming through the big glass windows during the day, by the bright lighting at night). 5 big TV's scattered about the room. A nice separate "waiting area" where you can lounge while waiting for a seat: the waiting area has a leather couch and leather chairs and a coffee table. A computerized board system keeps track of who's on what list, and who's next to "must move". The computerized board screen is visible from anywhere in the room. Tables and Chairs: 9-seat tables with unusual felt: while pleasant to the touch, the felts are marked with odd "player circles", numbered 1-9, one in front of each player, where apparently players are supposed to place their bets. The circles are marked as being connected via lines for some reason. At least it's easy to see which seat you're in (the number is right in front of you in a circle!). Fixed leg chairs with a moderate amount of padding are only moderatly comfortable. The leather sofa looked much more so. Parking: Valet parking at the casino, and you can park on the street fairly easily, or on one of the connecting streets (like on Oregon Street, the corner where the casino is located). Recommend that you valet park, especially at night, since the neighborhood is dubious. Smoking: No smoking allowed in the building under California law. Service and Comps $5 coupon for food given to players after three hours of play. No kitchen on site, but several good restaurants in the area where two servers go to pick up food orders made by players. Links and Notes *Visited by MarkT in Jul 2006. *Visited by BrianB in May 2007. * Nearest competitor is the Lucky Lady Card Room, only about 5 miles away.